Summary:
Great talk tonight guys!!
Mindfulness is an amazing concept, and if applied properly it can have a great impact on your life.
Some awesome points made tonight were:
-Mindfulness can help in both COPING and THRIVING – so it’s a concept that can really benefit everyone!
-Being in the moment is as much about what i am not doing as it is about what i am doing.
-Being in the moment, captures that feeling when time is inconsequential... you're not even aware of it passing... you're totally focussed on what's at hand,what you're doing at that time, you're really engaged in it.
- It;s a place of awareness of just what is in front of you - where all your senses are attuned to... with no stress about the 'past' or the 'future’.
-Breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment can bring one of the most satisfying feelings ever! Just by dancing, talking, meeting new people, educating, attending interviews, being a part of a sports team .. its all there.
- Making stress manageable is to 're-centre myself' to the present moment. If I am stressed its usually because I am overwhelmed by the huge amount of things I need to do. Guiding yourself back from thinking about what you have to do, to what you are doing now.
-Also all those tasks, can only be done one small step at a time.
-Taking each responsibility as it comes instead of worrying about your workload all at once is a great way to reduce stress as well as living in the moment.
-Stress reducers involve a lot such as venting out all the stress through talking, crying, or showering, meditation, self-talk, getting carried away with something that soothes your nerves - even simply watching a youtube video.
-Worry usually refers to imagined possibilities that we project into the future. It is the ‘what if’s’ that if get carried away can blow up into ‘catastrophic thinking’ that is out of proportion…. and of course can cause a lot of stress.
-Some things that help keep stress to a manageable level are doing some physical exercise like walking, stretches, yoga poses, cycling, have a swim , going out to potter in the garden, or clean up a bit downstairs. Or tune out by watching a spot of tele, a movie,or read a book, or something totally brainless and in the moment ...and Make sure overall that I eat pretty much healthy, getenough sleep.
-Could we use strategies we discussed in relation to stress and worry, to help quiet our mind and promote better sleep?A lot of the time when we struggle to sleep it relates to an active or anxious mind.. S o using soothing techniques to reduce stress and worry such as playing some tunes. writing and diverting your mind can really help relax the mind.. And I think once thats done better sleep can be an outcome for sure!
-A schedule is essential in having organisational or ‘time management’ skills. Having a schedule and task list that my brain can 'trust' I find myself rehearsing all those things I need to do over and over, which absolutely destroys my mindful practise and my general sense of wellbeing.
-Prioritising responsibilities and putting yourself first. Its important to get your work done and also give yourself some time to rest and treat your self before taking up tasks or plans that you know you shouldn't be doing ahah!
-IF IT AIN'T DONE TODAY IT CAN WAIT TILL TOMORROW!
-Self-talk is really important in getting through our day-to-day lives. It increases self-belief, reassurance and also lets us feel in control.
-All these things let us focus on the positive aspects of what we want to do and diverts our mind away from the negativity. Which then leads us to live in the moment and enjoy whatever we are doing ... Self talk can be a huge initiator in having a confident, positive and healthy mind.
- Using constructive self-talk is a form of self-love, and caring for ourselves is the biggest best thing we can do for a healthy mind and bod!
Hope you guys have all benifitted from todays talk and hope to have a mindful mind from tomorrow :D
... View more

8. How can we use self-talk to help us focus on our actual task rather than these nerves? I think self-talk is really important in getting through our day-to-day lives. It increases self-belief, reassurance and also lets us feel in control. All these things let us focus on the positive aspects of what we want to do and diverts our mind away from the negativity. Which then leads us to live in the moment and enjoy whatever we are doing ... Self talk can be a huge initiator in having a confident, positive and healthy mind. :)
... View more

Moving on :)
Self-talk is a huge contributor in having a healthy well-being. It can lead to a lot of unnecessary negativity or a lot of positive reassurance. When facing ‘scary’ situations that let the nerves become a central part of the task, self-talk can really keep the task at a relaxed mood.
8. How can we use self-talk to help us focus on our actual task rather than these nerves?
... View more

@evanescence its awesome to see that you were able to combat not sleeping and now love it... I think thats an important lesson to mindfulness also... you learnt to focus your mind on the present task and it led to awesome sleep... and how amazing is sleep haha!
... View more

7.What are organisation or ‘time management’ strategies that work for you? I feel like lists is a main one for a lot of people. I think other things that may also work can be prioritising responsibilities and putting yourself first. Its important to get your work done and also give yourself some time to rest and treat your self before taking up tasks or plans that you know you shouldn't be doing ahah!
... View more

6. Could we use strategies we discussed in relation to stress and worry, to help quiet our mind and promote better sleep? Yes definitely... I feel like a lot of the time when we struggle to sleep it relates to an active or anxious mind.. so using soothing techniques to reduce stress and worry such as playing some tunes. writing and diverting your mind can really help relax the mind.. And I think once thats done better sleep can be an outcome for sure!
... View more

6. Have you ever had trouble falling asleep? Have you ever had a "racing mind?" How would you use mindfulness to help in a situation like that?
Cute dog falling in slow motion
https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dzj7KHD4qBKE&h=QAQEuigk7&s=1
... View more

5. Are there particular events or things that cause you to worry? How might concentrating on the present moment through our five senses (Touch ,Taste, Sight, Smell, Sound) support us in handle some of these events that cause us to worry? I think when things don't go to plan... worry is a natural reaction, also maybe when we receive any sort of feed back or results - that can be a cause of worrying as well... I think with living in the moment and understanding that each moment can be your last will really reduce worrying.. as well as reminding yourself that their are countless numbers of opportunities out there... all of this comes from seeing the world... and I guess with all our other senses we can sooth ourselves to reduce the worry ... aka comfort food or listening to come chilled music or lighting up a scented candle...
... View more

@Troy thats a really good point about the thing you said about being at the gym and stressing about assignments! I think being able to focus and re-centre yourself really helps you minimise the stress and also live in the moment.. its great... I think my way of calming down the stress is a little stressful itself ... I just find it calming to cry it all out... take a few deep breaths and organise my time telling myself that I can get everything done!! ahah but the crying helps getting out all the nerves!
... View more

In our modern day and life, its is easy to become stressed, both on a moment to moment short term basis, such as a tough assignment, as well as in the long term such as from the continual worry about work or school or home life.
3. What are some things that help you keep stress to a manageable level? Is there such a thing as an "okay" amount of stress, if so, how much stress is okay?
... View more

Hey @evanescence :) really well said... I love the idea of awareness to whats in front of you... so true because most of the time theres just so much more going on inside you which stops you from engaging with the beauty of what's in front of you.. For example with @Troy music festival examples haha.. if you're super conscious about dancing it'll be so hard for you to focus on the music playing and just enjoying the beats (best-est feeling)
... View more

2.Being in the moment is often described as – A immersion to your current experience, as opposed to projecting yourself to an imagined future, or going back to a past that has already happened. What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes? I think a time I left my comfort zone and something awesome came out of it was the time my best friend and I decided to dress up as fairies and go to school. Sure we looked like derps ... but hsc stress was high and us doing that made everyone laugh a little and just enlighten the mood.. #positivevibes
... View more

@Ben-RO I think when things get hard/intense it's definitely hard not to 'be in the moment' ... simply because we start thinking of consequences... but I guess thats human nature and also some times needed ... but not to an extent where it starts to affect our mental health ..
... View more

2.Being in the moment is often described as – A immersion to your current experience, as opposed to projecting yourself to an imagined future, or going back to a past that has already happened.
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
... View more

Heey everyone! :) 1.What does "being in the moment" mean to you? To me, being in the moment is to take a risk and to challenge yourself to something outside your comfort zone... I think its being exciting and not letting fear come in the way of things...
... View more

Hi @blade123
It seems like you've been going through a lot of fearful emotions lately, must be a hell'a tough!
Your father and the experiences that you have had with him seem to have given you a new outlook on other people... dads are usually a really big support and role-model for their children... so it makes sense that him hurting your feelings has led to such distrust, fear and restraint with engaging in intimacy with other people.
Although, on a bright note ... THERE IS A WAY TO GET RID OF ALL THESE EMOTIONS!
Step one is acknowlegding that you want to be able to trust people again and yoou want to make sure these thoughts of getting hurt, being scared leave your head... Is this something you want to do? It will definitely involve taking risks and breaking through your comfort zone, but it will for sure have a happier impact on your thougths :) I know that opening up and tallking to people is something you will hate at this stage ... so why not write letters, notes and have a personal diary all for yourself... just something you can let out all your emotions in... *definitely a big release* And if you do want to talk to someone and be completely anonymous so there is no chance of hurt or anything of the sort you can have a chat to someone on BeyondBlue, just call: 1300 22 4636 you can also have an awesome read: http://au.reachout.com/tough-times/mental-health-issues/anxiety-disorders
I see you are worried of running into your dad... A massive thing which you need to remind yourself is that everyone is different! Ask yourself, have you ever met any 2 people that are identical ? i am not saying that there are not people that are capable of hurting you out there ... but I am saying not everyone is like him and there are people who are definitely capable of loving you. And having someone so close to you hurt you can make it hard to believe or even think these things... so self talk is really important... It is important to remind yourself that people can be nasty but beautiful too... it is up to us to keep the beauty in our life and kick the nasty out because it does us no good at all.. if you do run into your dad, tell yourself to block him out... Now I know saying all this is very simple but actually doing it is hard so, baby steps :)
You are afraid of being your-self... that must be so confusing for you. A pat on the back for being so so strong with everything you are going through with right now. I think with this, there is an adventure written for you... finding yourself and shaping your identity is something everyone finds a massive struggle with, so don't worry you are not alone with this. Besides the rottweiler why not get something of a loving and comforting persona, maybe a cat? or a german shepherd? or any other animal which you want for reasons more than jsut protection.. other things which will help you come out of your shell and explore your self is writing a bucket list of all th things you want to do, joining a society/club/team/band of soemthing you enjoy, immerse yourelf in things that make you happy... can you list these things ?
Its honestly fine for you to be scared with all that you've had to deal with, great to see you come to reachout! Hopefully now we can move forward to grabbing a postivie mind set?
Hope this helps... do reply back!
Stay strong.
... View more

@Bee , awesome to see that you know you can overcome all the negatives! Great attitude, I feel so inspired... ahah. :) Hope time outside the house does let you settle and all the other coping mechanisms have a positive outcome, all the best.
... View more